best day of the year.

yesterday was my favorite day of the year by far - for me, 1st of may is better than christmas, easter or my birthday.

all the people who gather in traditional, colorful costumes (dirndl and lederhose) for one day to celebrate, drink lots of beer and eat pretzels make me so happy that i get all nervous and sqirrely and prepare for that day like it´s prom.

reminds me of a countryside version of coachella, actually.

for those who don´t know this austrian tradition - 1st of may is national holiday in austria and the whole country celebrates in different ways, but mainly it´s about erecting "maibäume" (and that´s nothing else than a huge wooden pole with a little decoration on it) and they have pretzels and sausages hanging on them. the main part of the celebration is about raising the pole and then some really courageous young men try to climb up and get the pretzels and sausages.

a local newspaper took a picture of me and my girlfriends (i´m the only one who didn´t manage to look normal and my face looks like i´m hurting or something. that figures.):

ok, while writing down what´s that party all about, i realize it must sound really stupid to people who aren´t familiar with this tradition - but trust me, it´s worth going.

btw - that´s not my traditional "dirndl", this is only the one i have for partying when it doesn´t matter if it gets spilled on or something. also, normally people wear a white blouse underneath a dirndl. well yeah, i´m different.

XOXO